The new addiction is gambling, and it is destroying families and putting young children at risk according to a new report.
As a product gambling is portrayed as an exciting and glamorous pastime in today’s multimedia society, but this image couldn’t be further from the truth.
And despite only containing 52% of Sydney’s population, Western Sydney endures 63% of electronic gaming machine losses.
The report was released by the Centre for Western Sydney and makes fascinating reading. For example:
- The impact is significantly higher in the inner ring of Western Sydney. Fairfield, Canterbury-Bankstown and Cumberland account for a third of Sydney’s losses.
- There is not a singular factor driving the extraordinarily high rates of losses and gambling related harm in Western Sydney, rather, there is a confluence of intersecting factors.
- Gambling related-harm cannot be addressed by the community alone. It will take a concerted effort from government and industry stakeholders to make a meaningful impact.
- There is a clear economic benefit to addressing gambling-related harm in communities, as well as the associated health and wellbeing outcomes that would be achieved.
- Gambling-related harm emerged as a key issue in the lead-up to the 2023 state election, with the public monitoring the policy positions of both sides.
"Western Sydney sustained 63% of Sydney's gambling losses through electronic gaming machines, despite only having 52% of its population," manager Tom Nance said.
Mr Nance is the Manager, Strategy and Delivery with Western Sydney University. He is a leading contributor to the Centre for Western Sydney’s research, partnership and activation platforms, shaping regional narrative and conversation in a way that prioritises equity and opportunity.
"We really need to tackle the location of electronic gaming machines and how this drives the silent epidemic of gambling-related harm within Western Sydney," he said in an ABC interview.
“Alarmingly" a high percentage of losses are sustained in a small number of places, like Fairfield, Canterbury-Bankstown and Cumberland local government areas (LGAs) which have more than 11,200 poky machines combined.
People in the three LGAs lost a record $862M in the first six months of 2022 – a third of Greater Sydney’s $2.5 billion in losses.
"It's not surprising that, when there's a casino on every corner, that people are more likely to experience gambling-related harm," Mr Nance said.
The harm has become so evident that gambling reform has become a key issue at elections.
But change won't come easy, with the state government receiving billions every year in tax revenue from gambling. Premier Dominic Perrottet wanted to introduce a cashless gaming card through his coalition government.
While Labor has committed to a trial of a cashless card, crossbench MPs and anti-gambling advocates argue it doesn't go far enough.
ClubsNSW told the ABC it was "committed to reducing the incidence of gambling-related harm", as evidenced through its new Gaming Code of Practice.
It said its 69 clubs in Fairfield, Canterbury-Bankstown, and Cumberland LGAs generate $300M in both state government taxes and ClubGrants tax rebates.
The introduction of the mandatory card was the number one recommendation from the Crime Commission 2022 report into money laundering.
“The cashless gaming card really tackles gambling-related harm as well as money laundering," Mr Nance said.
As politicians debate their next move, community groups in Western Sydney are fighting gambling addiction on the ground.
Nathan Peterson runs Gamblers Anonymous meetings in Liverpool, a place where people can seek help with "no judgement".
"When people arrive here, they're generally very, very broken," Mr Peterson said told the ABC. "We've got people that have come in who have lost houses, businesses, families, children and been fired from jobs.
"Within driving distance of this room ... there would be somewhere in the realm of 2000 to 3000 poker machines."
Mr Peterson said change was needed because the current measures that have been put in place were "obviously not working".
"Around five to eight per cent of the people that will walk through the doors that won't go back out and gamble again ... that's a very small number," he said.
"It doesn't matter what time of the day it is, whether it's five o'clock in the morning or whatever time, I can find a poker machine to play and anything that restricts that cannot be a bad thing."
Interestingly when pubs and clubs shut their doors during COVID lockdowns, Mr Peterson saw people turn their lives around.
"We saw people come through the program that were getting 30 days, 60 days, 90 days off gambling and that was because they couldn't," he said.
But it didn't last long, with "all the money that people had stored" going "straight back into the machines" when venues reopened.
"There was a stimulus package that allowed people to take $10,000 out of their superannuation fund without reason and I know a lot of people that at the end of COVID accessed that $10,000 and as soon as it hit the bank account went straight through the poker machine."
In Fairfield, federal Independent MP for Fowler Dai Le, whose own mother battled a gambling addiction, believes residents are at a disadvantage.
"People, when they're poorer, they want to think there's some luck in trying to break through that poverty ... they're trying to win," Ms Le told the ABC.
"I cannot stress enough how the impact is, people have to be here to recognise the impact on our communities.
"We need to create a safer environment in clubs for families together because children imitate their elders."
If you or anyone you know needs help:
Lifeline on 13 11 14. Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800. Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636. Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467. Headspace on 1800 650 890. Reach Out at www.au.reachout.com
